The Aftermath
by MajorTomLives
Summary: After a disturbing event leaves Rainey Street without Hank, Peggy, Bobby or Bill, those who remain are left wondering how life will go on. A sequel to a well-known piece of "creepypasta".
1. Chapter 1

The story you're about to read is a direct sequel to a viral post. If you haven't already read it, Bill Dauterive finally snaps and breaks into the Hill residence, only to commit depraved acts upon the people within. As it originally appeared on 4Chan, it is far beyond what would be appropriate to summarize on Fan Fiction. However, should your curiosity get the best of you, the story can be found by Google searching "chanarchive at first bill was". That should lead you right to it. Once you've read that, return here and read on. This is the immediate aftermath of that fateful night.

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><p>Sirens blared across Arlen that morning, originating from the normally quaint Rainey Street. Having been kept late at the station by a pesky floor director who kept blatantly hitting on her, Nancy Gribble was the first to be disturbed. Angrily pulling the covers over her head, she punched her husband's scrawny arm to wake him up.<p>

"Sug, go see what the hell is going on," she yelled, her face muffled by blankets and pillows. As he rose, Dale Gribble instinctively grabbed his pack of cigarettes and began to get dressed. He looked toward the window. The blinds worked to keep most light out, but the tell-tale signs of flashing emergency lights couldn't be ignored.

"Is it the Feds?" he asked sleepily. Still tired from helping his neighbor Hank the day before, he almost didn't care if they had finally caught onto him. Almost.

Sliding on his robe and Nancy's pink slippers, he opened his front door. Immediately, he found himself drowning in light and color: ambulances, fire trucks, squad cars, caution lights... Rainey Street was pandemonium. His first instinct was to run inside to his basement and hide, but a sudden realization kept him outside. Across the street, where his neighbor Hank's house was, was a smoldering ruin. The house where he and his friends had spent countless hours building and rebuilding things, mowing and remowing lawns. The house where Hank, his wife Peggy, and son Bobby had lived peacefully for years. Gone.

Searching for a familiar face in the crowd, he found Kahn Souphanousinphone standing close to his wife Mihn and daughter Connie.

"What happened?" Dale coughed, exhuming his throat of the aftermath of 35 years of smoking. Despite this, he was already halfway to lighting a new cigarette in his mouth. Kahn shook his head.

"Dumb hillbilly burn down house. Loved his propane too much, I guess." Kahn's voice didn't sound the same to Dale. He noted that despite his usual sarcastic and insulting tone, the words felt unnatural. Shaken.

"No word yet on any survivors," Mihn added. She gripped Connie's shoulder supportively, who had been silently crying since Dale had arrived. Without warning, she took off back into her own house, sobbing.

Dale then noticed Boomhauer, waiting in the alley with three cans of Alamo beer. He walked over and claimed his, nodding to his old friend.

"Any word yet?"

"I did-dan-dang 'ol, don't know, man. Just did and then well woke up and it then man sirens and well got some dang 'ol... beers, man." Boomhauer shook his head.

"And you expected there to be four of us, right?"

"Did... dang... didn't know it was dang 'ol Hank, man..." Dale patted Boomhauer on the shoulder consolingly.

"You know Hank. He never would have let something like this happen if he was home. There's no way he was in there when it blew." Boomhauer nodded, still not convinced. Dale looked around, expectantly.

"Where the hell is Bill?" he asked. Boomhauer shrugged, kicking his feet. Dale shook his head. "Fat bastard can sleep through anything I guess." He turned his attention back to the Hill house. Out of what was left of the house, several paramedics carried a stretcher towards an ambulance. It didn't take very long for Dale to realize it carried a body, its head covered under a white shroud. One of the Hills.

From the looks of the body, it was either Hank or Peggy. Dale knew this for sure seconds later, as a second stretcher came from the house carrying a significantly smaller corpse. A third and fourth stretcher followed, and Dale extinguished his cigarette.

"I guess that's it then," he sighed, stomping the butt out on the sidewalk. Boomhauer stared at his feet, catatonic. "You going to be okay?" Dale asked sympathetically. Boomhauer just waved him off, not saying a word. Dale watched him for a moment, then turned to go back inside.

Dale crawled back into bed with Nancy. She stirred slightly, and pulled the blankets against her tightly.

"What's going on out there, sug?" she asked him. No reply. She rolled over to look at her husband, only to see his face expressionless and his fingers trembling. Gently, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Sug, what happened?"

Dale took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then closed his eyes. Tears began to form, and they streamed down his narrow face with ease. "Hank, Peggy and Bobby are dead."


	2. Chapter 2

The Aftermath

The police report was made public a few weeks later. As much as he was afraid to read it, Dale was the first in line at the Arlen Municipal Building to get a copy. He wasn't alone though, as Boomhauer and Kahn were right behind him. The three of them decided it would be best for them to read the reports alone and meet in the alleyway afterwards.

Boomhauer retired to his den and opened the package. He got a paragraph through before tossing it aside and beginning to cry again.

Kahn, sitting on his living room couch, made it through the first page before setting it down, his hands trembling. Mihn entered the room, a tray with green tea prepared for her husband.

"Well? What happened?" she demanded of him. Kahn just slowly shook his head.

"Mihn, we moving back to Anaheim."

Dale, hiding away in his basement office, read through the entire report dutifully, even though he threw up when he reached the second page. The police report noted that there were some facts missing due to the Hill residence being completely destroyed by a propane explosion, but autopsies on the bodies revealed without question that Hank, Peggy and Bobby had been killed by Bill.

What was worse, all three were found in various states of bondage and distress. Bobby's arm had been broken in two places, Peggy's skull appeared to have been wrenched open, and as for Hank, disturbance in his pelvic tissue led the investigators to believe... well, Dale hoped to God that they were only speculating about that.

Bill had been found on the couch. He had ignited the explosion after contacting Arlen Police, killed by his own hand. Describing his character, Dale found several paragraphs about his friend and neighbor. The investigators had delved into his divorce, his depression, his alcoholism... no stone left unturned in the gravel pit that had been Bill Dauterive.

Glass of lemonade in hand, Nancy descended the basement staircase to Dale's office. As she set the glass down onto his desk, her husband put his face into his hands.

"It's our fault, Nancy," he moaned. Nancy wrapped her arm around her husband's shoulders quickly, as if to pacify the thought.

"No, sug, no way," she consoled him, to no avail.

"We made Bill this way. We drove him to this."

"Dale, there's no way anything you could have done would have driven that man to do whatever the hell he did to those poor souls. Don't you dare think that it was your fault. Not for a second." Nancy squeezed Dale tighter, to which he sighed.

"From the report, it seems like this was an elaborate, premeditated setup," Dale began. Nancy threw her arms up in disgust.

"Dale Gribble, you will not make a conspiracy theory out of this," she threatened, yanking off his signature sunglasses. In defiance, he snatched them back and put them back on his face.

"You don't one day decide to wake up and rape an entire family with such precision and detail. Least of all if you're Bill," Dale narrowed his eyes in thought, though since they were shielded by his glasses, it didn't matter in the slightest. "You have to wonder how long he kept this a secret from us, Nancy. How long he stood right next to us, drinking our beer and being our friend, while secretly planning this... this... depravity. I can't stand liars, Nancy. And as far as I'm concerned, Bill was lying to our faces."

Flustered, Nancy threw her arms up again and stormed out. Dale watched her leave, but paid her behavior no mind. After all, Nancy always got uncomfortable when it came to secrets. She must hate them as much as Dale did, at least that's what he figured. Without giving it another thought, Dale too left the basement, on his way to the alley to meet Boomhauer and Kahn.


End file.
